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Savvy May 2023

Destination wedding - send invitations very early and skip 'save the date'?

Jill, on May 5, 2019 at 12:29 PM Posted in Planning 0 7

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Hi all,

We are having a "destination wedding" - we are from opposite sides of the world, so we picked our favorite destination that is in the middle and easiest for every one.

We were just told by our venue that the capacity of the space dropped from 120 to a firm 100 (given the nature of the venue we can't really argue). We tried to get our guest list to 100, but we are still a good handful over and its unlikely 100% of people will attend.

Given these factors gauging RSVPs is very important - do you think we could just send out the invitations very early - meaning like 6-7months in advance - and just skip the save the dates so we can get the attendance number much earlier? I'm stressing trying to figure out the best way to handle.

Thank you ladies!

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7 Comments

Latest activity by Naikesha, on June 30, 2019 at 8:29 PM

Legend November 2019
Caytlyn · on May 5, 2019 at 12:59 PM
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Sending out invitations 7 months early is only going to give you a more skewed guest count. Most people can’t tell you what their plans are 7 months in advance.
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Super May 2019
Kiki · on May 5, 2019 at 1:04 PM
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I wouldn't do this. I'm also having a DW and when I sent out save the dates I had people contact me right away and decline. About 20 out of 80 people. So I would send out save the dates and see what happens.
Anyone who says no after the save the dates don't send them a formal invitation people may say this is rude but you know your crowd. Then send save the dates to your "B list" replacing all the initial No's.
The problem with sending out formal invites too early is no one will officially RSVP until about 2 months before the wedding anyways so it won't help. And people will probably loose the invite and forget completely to RSVP.
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Savvy May 2023
Jill · on May 5, 2019 at 1:25 PM
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Good point!!
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Savvy May 2023
Jill · on May 5, 2019 at 1:26 PM
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In a way that’s quite nice that people told you so quickly after the save the date that they couldn’t come! Maybe that will happen for me. Thank you!
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Expert October 2019
Jennifer · on May 5, 2019 at 4:19 PM
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Send out save the dates, but follow up with people to gauge interest. Just don't be pushy. Especially for a destination wedding, I'm sure you can get a couple of firm no responses that early. You still need to send an invite closer to the date, so people remember.
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WeddingWire Administrator January 2030
Clíodhna · on June 27, 2019 at 9:32 AM
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Hi there Jillian Did you decide if you will send out save the dates, or the invitation earlier? Where will the wedding be?
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Super September 2020
Naikesha · on June 30, 2019 at 8:29 PM
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I agree I sent out the save the dates and received some form no’s and then I put in my plan Bs I’m still far away 15 months but 50% of my guest have already put deposits on their hotel rooms.
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